Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, the Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, presided over the meeting, which evaluated and accepted proposals from several Government Ministries and Divisions.

The ECC approved increasing PASSCO’s wheat purchase objective from 1.4 million metric tonnes (MMT) to 1.8 MMT, plus an additional Rs 41.5 billion.

The permission would enable PASCCO to expand its current wheat buying campaign. The ECC also accepted the Ministry of Industries and Production’s application to import 200,000 MTs of Urea fertilizer to meet Kharif 2024 requirements.

Mr. Jam Kamal Khan, Minister for Commerce, Mr. Musadik Masood Malik, Minister for Petroleum, Mr. Abdul Aleem Khan, Minister for Industries & Production, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Chairman SECP, Dy Chairman Planning Commission, Federal Secretaries, and other senior government officials from the relevant ministries were present at the meeting.

Mr. Ahad Khan Cheema, Minister for Economic Affairs, and MD PASSCO both attended the meeting online.

The ECC also approved the Ministry of Industries and Production’s request to pay PSM workers’ salaries and asked it to submit a clear plan for the asset’s future use, including dates.

The committee also approved the Power Division’s request to release budgeted expenditures to settle tariff differential subsidy arrears of Rs. 70 billion for KE and Rs 55 billion for AJK.

The ECC approved a summary authorizing BISP to use funds from its assigned budget to finance the Special Relief Package for Daily Wage Workers on the Chaman Border, emphasizing the government’s support for the vulnerable population.

The ECC also considered and approved proposals for technical supplementary grants, including Rs. 4.8 billion for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Rs. 5.8 billion for the Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority, Rs. 3.2 billion for the Finance Division, Rs. 162 million for the Ministry of Housing & Works, and Rs. 2.2 billion for the Ministry of Interior’s FATA TDP-ERP project.

The official transportation for schools in Islamabad is under jeopardy as proposals emerge to repurpose PM Transport into Pink public buses.

The vehicles allocated for transporting children are being redirected for other projects, raising concerns among parents and neighbors.

Authorities have given orders to transfer F-six and G-six government schoolchildren in two to three shifts.

Parents are organizing protests outside schools to express their dissatisfaction with the administration’s apparent lack of competency.

Because there is no government-provided transportation, children must leave their homes early in the morning and return as late as 4 p.m.

Parents are demanding for the suspension of children’s school buses and urge the Home Minister to intervene and handle the matter immediately.

Judge Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb delivered the reserved decision in response to a plea from former first lady Bushra Bibi, who was asking to be moved from the Bani Gala sub-prison to Adiala jail.

After being found guilty in the Toshakhana case, Bushra Bibi was placed under house arrest in her Bani Gala apartment as a kind of detention.
Following her and Imran’s 14-year jail term in the Toshakhana matter, an accountability court in Islamabad placed the former first lady under arrest on January 31.

Bushra Bibi had contested the residence’s classification as a sub-jail and pleaded with the IHC to allow her to serve the remainder of her 14-year sentence in Adiala Jail, about a week after her detention.

The superintendent of Adiala jail notified the IHC earlier in March that Bushra Bibi, the wife of former prime minister Imran Khan, could not be moved to the prison because of “security threats.”

She is still being held in the Iddat case even though the IHC suspended their sentences in the Toshakhana reference on April 1.

It is important to note that former prime minister Imran Khan, who is currently detained, claimed that his wife was poisoned at the Bani Gala sub-jail.